Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro – Machame Gate to Machame Hut

Dean WickhamJuly 24, 2012

This is part 1 of my trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro

Groves of banana trees flashed by as I watched out of the window of the bus. As we drove through a tiny village, some kids waved at me from the side of the road with big smiles on their faces. Slowly, the bus made it’s way up hill through the lush green countryside, and clouds wrapped themselves around us as we gained elevation.

I was currently on the lower slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro in Northern Tanzania, and I was travelling from the town of Moshi to Machame Gate where I would begin my trek to the summit of the highest mountain in Africa. Accompanying me in the bus were my ten fellow trekkers, along with our guides and cooks who together made up the G Adventures group that I would climb with.

Machame Gate

At first, the trail followed a dirt road from the gate through the lush rain forest. The incline was easy but our guide made sure that we kept to a slow pace. The fog gave the forest an eerie and mystical feel, with moss and lichens clinging to the trees, and the thick undergrowth hiding the forest floor. Some baboons played in the trees and on the ground as we passed by, and I could hear birds chirping off in the distance.

Walking through the rain forest

Before long the road ended and we were now hiking on an actual walking track. It was now that the trail began to get steeper and our pace became even slower. “Pole pole” said Frederick, one of our assistant guides. Slowly slowly.

At this altitude I could breathe fine, but the slow pace is important for acclimatization. This made it almost unbearable at times as we plodded along, sometimes so slow that I had to stop before taking another step. As hard as it was to walk so slow, I knew in my mind that I would be thankful for it in the coming days.

All around me the thick rain forest and fog blocked out the sunlight, although the drizzle had gone and I was now trekking in shorts and a t-shirt. We stopped for lunch at the half way point before continuing our slow crawl through the jungle.

Hiking up the slope through the rain forest

The trail continued like this for most of the afternoon, but eventually the fog seemed to clear and the forest began to thin. We had actually climbed above the clouds and were approaching the tree line. The air and ground seemed drier and the mud on my boots became dust. Then, as we climbed a ridge and turned a corner, Kibo Peak, the summit of Kilimanjaro came into view. I could now see my goal, looking so close, yet so far away.

My first view of the snow capped Kibo Peak – the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro

As we walked on, the lush rain forest gave way to stunted trees and bushes. We had entered into the moorland, the next vegetation zone on the mountain and the location of Machame Hut – our first camp site.

Hiking through the moorland near Machame Hut

At 3000m I was feeling great after the days hike, making sure to finish off my third litre of water for the day. At the hut, we had to sign in and then wait for our tents to be set up. Our porters had rushed ahead of us and were basically finished by the time we got there, so after freshening up with the provided warm washing water, we enjoyed a well earned cup of tea and popcorn while we waited for dinner.

The sign at Machame Hut

Our dining tent at Machame Hut

From Machame Hut I watched as the clouds cleared away from the summit above me, and as the sun set over Shira Peak in the West, it finally sunk in that I was really on Mount Kilimanjaro, and there was no place that I would rather be at that moment. I was truly looking forward to the next few days of trekking, and conquering Africa’s highest mountain.

Hi Wayne. Firstly, congrats on working towards your Annapurna trek. Nepal is a beautiful country and I loved trekking there. Kilimanjaro is possibly the hardest trek I have done, simply because of the summit day. The altitude, lack of sleep and continuous steepness made it tough going. I also took one of the harder but more scenic routes up the mountain. You can view the climb I took here which will tell you all about the costs etc.

Compared to the Everest Base Camp trek in Nepal, I found Kilimanjaro much harder, once again because of the summit day. But I highly recommend doing it, and as long as you’re prepared, you will enjoy it. Cheers and thanks for reading. There’s much more to come 🙂Dean Wickham recently posted..Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro – Machame Gate to Machame Hut

Hi Lisa. Trekking is definitely challenging for the mind as much as the body, but overcoming those challenges will make you stronger. I always feel so great when I complete a hike, and the most beautiful places in the world that I have seen have been while trekking. You should definitely get out and do it 🙂Dean Wickham recently posted..Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro – Machame Gate to Machame Hut

Hey Brock, the skies got even better the further up we went. In the coming days there was always this blanket of cloud below us and the skies were the most beautiful blue colour. It was quite amazing.Dean Wickham recently posted..Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro – Machame Gate to Machame Hut

Hey Dean
Fred & Lucy here from our Kili hike together. Great account on the first day of the climb. We look forward to the subsequent blogs of the trip. Helps us relive the grueling but amazing experience.

Hi Joe. I have been hiking for a long time and do so regularly, but for big climbs like this I usually find some mountains near to where I live to train on. Look for nature trails in your local area, and then find some tougher climbs and longer hikes.

Hiking Mount Kilimanjaro is on my bucket list, very jealous right now! I think walking slowly in such a beautiful place would be easy as long as I had a camera in my hand. Those packs look big, how heavy are they?Escaping Abroad recently posted..Driving Through Bryce Canyon

You’re right, it really wasn’t that hard with the beautiful scenery around. I found that my camera got a lot of use the further along the trail that I went. It’s just beautiful 🙂
Our packs weren’t heavy as we only had to carry a day pack with water/snacks etc. Probably only about 5kgs or so. Our main packs were carried by porters.